Napoleon in 1812 - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

9. Burgos – 1

Conquer the fortress and occupy the heart of the stronghold before the corps directly led by the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte arrives in Burgos! This was the first order given to the Allies.

The Marquis of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, once again used the same strategy he had used to capture Fort Retiro ahead of the Battle of Burgos. It was a trick to block all road networks and waterways outside the fortress and to force the defenders inside to raise a white flag on their own.

However, Fort Burgos was very different from Fort Retiro. The French defenders guarding Fort Burgos were also not exceptional elite soldiers, but they had enough time to prepare in advance after hearing the news that Wellesley’s corps was moving north.

The fort’s garrison had already stored enough food and water in its internal warehouse before the Allied siege, and had a considerable supply of gunpowder, shells, and ammunition. Naturally, they snorted at Arthur Wellesley’s suggestion of an honourable surrender.

“…It’s a fortress built in a completely different form from the usual Spanish construction. It doesn’t look like it would be easy to destroy it with just shelling.”

These were the words of a staff officer who was looking at Fort Burgos with a high magnification telescope.

The watchtower at the edge and the shape of a right angle or a star were common fortress structures in Spain. However, that fortress in front of them was very heterogeneous, with a dome-shaped forward watchtower and cast ironcoated walls added. This transformation of Fort Burgos was the result of the influence of the French.

In 1808, when the whole of Spain fell into French hands, they hired Italian builders to renovate and strengthen their main military bases in Spain. These fortified fortresses were called the ‘Napoleon Barrier’, one of which was Fort Burgos.

Bang! Boom! Boom! Bang!!

Siege artillery fire started to crack the walls or break the gates. The iron bullets that flew with the sound of thunder pounded hard against the walls of the fortress. The bullets fired by the 24-pounder and 36-pounder long guns of heavy artillery were enough to cause a slight tremor throughout the fort. It was like a giant punching his fist.

However, it was far from reaching the desired result of the coalition.

Arthur Wellesley, a commander with many years of experience, thought it would not be easy to take that fort. The number of defenders was simply a handful compared to that of the Allies. But as always, the level of officers and the will of each soldier were more important than the numbers.

Even in the midst of the pouring of shells, the defensive forces guarding Fort Burgos looked strong. They looked determined to fight until death here. It was very difficult to break up an army with such atmosphere.

Of the 100 cannons captured at Fort Retiro, there were five heavy artillery cannons of 24 pounds or more that could serve as siege artillery. A total of 17 siege cannons were here, including the 12 originally possessed by the Wellesley’s corps. 17 siege cannons could just crush any fortress.

However, Fort Burgos, which sat on a hill 3,200 feet above sea level and used natural features as a shield, was only scratched. The forward watchtower and streamlined rounded corners sent the impact of the shells away. The fortress was so strong and solid that it seemed that it was sticking its tongue out in provocation.

Judging that artillery firing all day could not break that iron wall fortress, Arthur Wellesley ordered the skilled Allied soldiers to prepare the field artillery.

Boooom! Booom! Boom!!

While cooling down the siege artillery for a while, the field artillery’s gunfire stung the ears and shook the earth. Gray smoke soon covered the surrounding area as if it were a mist of dawn. Of course, field artillery could not even scratch that fortress, but Wellesley had a reason to use them.

Among the artillery cannons, the howitzers and mortars, which could fire with a curved ballistic, could cross the walls and bombard the interior of the fortress. If some of them could land into food or weapons warehouses, it would be a big hit. The Allied command hoped that they would be intimidated and raise a white flag in the midst of this ruthless shelling.

However, even hours later, the defenders’ will to fight remained strong. The tricolour French flag was still fluttering in the wind. The impatient officers came to Wellesley’s barracks and insisted.

“The number of French troops guarding the fort is at most 2,000. Also, yesterday and today’s shelling would have discourage them quite a bit. We recommend that infantry prepare to take the fort.”

“No, we won’t do that. Have you already forgotten about Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz?”

In order to take over the two fortifications in southern Spain, the Allied forces had previously deployed a large number of infantry soldiers and had pushed them forward. As a result, the British forces, which had been in the lead at the time, suffered massive damage and had to recover for a considerable period of time.

If this was the decisive place to win or lose the war, Wellesley would have actively deployed infantry at the expense of damage. However, the Allies now had a more important goal than Fort Burgos: a decisive battle against Napoleon’s corps.

Wasn’t the occupation of the fortress just a preparation to gain a better position against Napoleon after all? It was no good taking on unnecessary losses ahead of a decisive battle that would determine the fate of the Iberian Peninsula

war.

“Isn’t this fortress nothing more but an advantageous position? Then why don’t we break it all down?”

The words of Colonel Tilain, a lieutenant to Major General Rowland Hill, caught Wellesley’s curiosity. The reason for the capture of Fort Burgos was to use the ridges and hilly terrain surrounding the fort against Napoleon.

In other words, Arthur Wellesley and the Allies needed the advantage of the fort’s location rather than the fort itself.

Colonel Tilain’s proposal was to deploy special forces to the base of Fort Burgos to set up explosives and completely destroy the walls. The generals from Britain and Portugal said it was a good plan, but the Spanish generals could not hide their embarrassment.

It would not be pleasant for them to say that they should destroy the fortress protecting their country’s main points. However, Spain had to shut up with a unhappy face as it had the weakest voice in the coalition and needed a great victory.

“I think Colonel Tilain’s proposal is a pretty good plan. Then, if everyone agrees, let’s try this.”

Arthur Wellesley was not someone to waste time when he was determined. The next day, upon waking up, he selected soldiers with large build and excellent physical conditions regardless of their nationality and assigned them to pull the explosive cart. Of course, he did not mean to push it into the fortress guarded by the enemy in plain sight.

“Block their view with smoke.”

It was to hide the existence of the cart full of gunpowder, straw, and artillery shells. With the help of the smoke, the explosives unit were secretly moving towards the left side of the fort. Even if their movements were detected, the enemy’s snipers or canons could not easily aim because of the thick smoke.

However, these thoughts were shattered in front of their eyes.

Bang! Bang! Boom! Bang!

“My-my God!”

“No, how did they do that!?”

Until now, the French defenders did not fire in response, no matter how much they were hit by the artillery, they only leaned against the wall and waited. This was also the reason why the Allies were able to carry out such bold operations. The Allied officers determined that they had killed the enemy’s spirits, but in fact the enemies were just lying low like predators stalking their prey.

The shells flew in the correct direction toward the explosives unit, even as the field of view was blocked by the smoke. The shells fired by the defenders landed just a few yards in front of the cart carrying the explosives. Even these strong soldiers could not endure the fear of meeting God so soon. If they had pulled the cart a little more forward, a disaster would have occurred.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“The messenger ordering the retreat from the headquarters has not arrived yet!”

“Do you look at the situation with your own eyes and wait for command’s orders? Let’s retreat now!”

The Portuguese officer in charge of transporting the explosives and blowing up the walls gave the order to retreat on his own will, and his judgment was correct.

But it was too late.

Whaaaaaaam!!

One of the several iron bullets that flew from the fort landed nearby the cart. Coincidentally, the ground there was harder than the rest of the land, so the bullet bounced straight up without hitting deep and hit the cart with the explosives. The flying iron bullet was hot enough to stimulate the explosives such as gunpowder and sulfur inside the cart.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

Massive flames and explosions occurred in succession, engulfing the surrounding explosives. The explosives that were supposed to be used to destroy the fort were fired from the ground without reaching the walls. The area was devastated and the explosives unit was burned alive.

Arthur Wellesley grabbed his forehead among the puzzled staff officers.

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Whaaaaaaam!!

The sound of the explosion, which was different from the cannon’s gunfire, was clearly heard by the defenders of Fort Burgos.

“It, it’s a success!”

“Woaah!!”

Despite their poor conditions, the artillerymen who had prepared for the shelling with only external information were delighted when the first shelling was successful at once. Of course, this was also true for the other soldiers, and even the officers.

“You filthy islander bastards! You will never be able to enter here! Hahahaha!”

“Colonel, your vision was correct. You’re amazing!”

The battlefield, covered in smoke, was as dark as pitch black.

It was entirely thanks to Colonel Jean-Louis Dubreton’s support that the defensive battery, which lost sight after the artillery attack, was able to grasp the enemy’s intentions in advance and locate them. His tactics and plans fitted perfectly and he managed to give his enemies a wonderful gift.

“I haven’t done anything. It was all ordered by His Majesty the great Emperor.”

Colonel Dubreton smiled happily, shaking his mustache. In his inner pocket, a piece of paper with the seal of Napoleon Bonaparte was rustling.